Stephen White of University of Southern Maine is our Team Leader of the Month! Prior to starting a Master of Social Work program at USM last spring, Stephen served five years in the Air Force as a weather forecaster, completed Bachelor’s of Psychology and MBA degrees, and worked as a project manager in both the public and private sectors. Now pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming a social worker, Stephen would like to go on to work with veterans and their families in the VA system. He thinks his experience as a Team Leader will help with “relating to veterans, understanding what veterans need, being an advocate, and knowing how to access the resources that veterans need.”

Camden Ege, former USM Team Leader and current Veteran Services Coordinator, nominated Stephen: “His ability to connect and interact with incoming veterans and Peer Advisors has been instrumental in creating meaningful connections. Stephen also brings a level of intelligence and a calm presence that has proven extremely beneficial to guiding USM’s PAVE program. ” We agree wholeheartedly and have enjoyed seeing Stephen help take PAVE at USM to the next level this past year.

Stephen says that being a Team Leader has made him “a better advocate for student veterans,” which he feels will help him in his future career. A tremendous advocate he is indeed, and an exciting initiative he’s worked on as Team Leader is establishing a scholarship fund for USM student veterans who’ve run out of educational benefits to use to complete their degrees. Thank you for your outstanding work, Stephen!